NEW YORK, NY.- “Long seen as the highest and most prized of the visual art forms, painting has been challenged in the digital age, and even before,” notes author Suzanne Hudson in the introduction to her new book, Painting Now. “As painting remains meaningful, we might ask how, why, and according to what means.”

Painting is a continually expanding and evolving form of creative expression. The radical changes in the medium that took place in the 1960s and 70s—the period that saw the shift from modernist to a postmodernist visual language—have led to painting’s continued energy and diversity.

With Painting Now, renowned critic and art historian Suzanne Hudson provides an intelligent and original survey of contemporary paintings—a critical snapshot that brings together more than 200 artists from around the world whose work is defining the painterly ideas and aesthetics of our time. The book’s contextual introduction maps out the history of painting in the modern and postmodern eras, and is followed by six chapters that explore themes of: Appropriation • Attitude • Production and Distribution • The Body • Painting about painting • Painters who use performance, installation, and textiles as a means of commenting on painting itself.

The book’s 230 illustrations feature artists both well known and emerging, including Franz Ackermann, Angela de la Cruz, Urs Fischer, Katharina Grosse, Subodh Gupta, Wade Guyton, Julie Mehretu, Vik Muniz, Neo Rauch, Wilhelm Sasnal, Kara Walker, Christopher Wool, Yue Minjun, and Zhang Xiaogang.

Compellingly argued and beautifully illustrated, PAINTING NOW is an invaluable primer on the state of painting today and essential reading for all those interested in contemporary art, art history, and criticism.

Suzanne Hudson is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Southern California, where she teaches modern and contemporary art history. Her writing has appeared in Parkett, Flash Art, and October, and she is a regular contributor to Artforum. Her previous books include Robert Ryman: Used Paint and Contemporary Art: 1989–Present.